LIN
LONGINSIDER SELLCONGRESS SELLLinde Plc
Research: Finviz ↗·Perplexity ↗
🗄 Viewing archived Q1 2026 data — frozen, no longer refreshed.
News Summary
NeutralLinde delivered record Q2 sales of $9.3B with 10% EPS growth, but operating margins contracted 60bps YoY to 29.5% due to U.S. home care (Lincare) headwinds and lower-margin equipment sales, prompting management to explore strategic alternatives including a potential sale. The company secured a landmark $1B semiconductor supply contract in Phoenix and raised full-year guidance to $17.70–$17.90, though Q3 EPS guidance of $4.45–$4.55 fell below the $4.59 analyst consensus, signaling near-term margin recovery challenges despite strong long-term project backlog.
Red flags
- •Operating margin compression of 60bps YoY in Q2 2026 to 29.5%, with management acknowledging Lincare profitability is unsatisfactory
- •Q3 2026 EPS guidance ($4.45–$4.55) missed consensus estimate ($4.59) despite full-year guidance raise
- •Lincare strategic review including potential sale indicates core business portfolio concerns amid labor cost inflation and reimbursement pressures
- •Stock fell ~5.9% post-Q2 earnings despite record sales, reflecting investor concern over margin trajectory
Funds Buying (4)
| Fund | Manager | Shares Held | ∆ Shares | Position Value | % of Fund | QoQ | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maverick Capital | Lee Ainslie | 426K | +426K | $211M | 2.5% | — | NEW |
| Soros Fund Management | Soros Family Office | 260K | +260K | $129M | 1.8% | — | NEW |
| Point72 | Steve Cohen | 89K | +89K | $44M | <0.1% | — | NEW |
| Duquesne Family Office | Stanley Druckenmiller | 41K | +41K | $20M | 0.7% | — | NEW |
Shares Held and Position Value reflect total quarter-end holdings. ∆ Shares is the change from the prior quarter. % of Fund is the position's share of the fund's reported equity portfolio — it drives the size weighting in the conviction score.
Portfolio Context
Where LIN ranks in each buying fund's book, and the positions immediately around it. What a holding sits next to often says more about the thesis than the position size does.
position #12 of this fund's book
- 9JAZZ INVESTMENTS I LTD$158M
- 10RIVIAN AUTOMOTIVE INC$154M
- 11JD.COM INC$150M
- 12LINDE PLC$129M
- 13APPLE INC$127M
- 14TKO GROUP HOLDINGS INC$122M
- 15SEALED AIR CORP NEW$116M
position #16 of this fund's book
- 13VISA INC$244M
- 14NATERA INC$234M
- 15CAPITAL ONE FINL CORP$228M
- 16LINDE PLC$211M
- 17DICKS SPORTING GOODS INC$207M
- 18INFLEQTION INC$196M
- 19SOUTHWEST GAS HLDGS INC$185M
position #32 of this fund's book
- 29Jabil Inc$22M
- 30Southern Copper Corp$21M
- 31Ishares S&P Gsci Commodity-$21M
- 32Linde Plc$20M
- 33Seagate Technology Hldngs Pl$20M
- 34Cleveland-Cliffs Inc New$20M
- 35Nuvation Bio Inc$19M
Values are quarter-end position sizes. Shown only for funds where LIN ranks inside their 40 largest equity positions — below that, neighbouring names carry no signal. Adjacency is an inference about a fund's reasoning, not a disclosure of it.
Signal History
| Quarter | Direction | Funds | Score | vs SPY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | LONG | 4 | 5.13 | -9.4% |
| Q1 2026 | LONG | 4 | 5.50 | -22.0% |
Same issuer appearing in consecutive quarters — persistent institutional conviction. Returns are frozen at each archived quarter's last refresh.
Insider Activity
Congressional Trading
| Member | Chamber | State | Type | Amount Range | Transaction Date | Filed | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Armstrong | senate | — | SELL | $15,001 - $50,000 | 2026-03-27 | 2026-07-21 | ↗ |
Periodic Transaction Reports filed under the STOCK Act. Amounts are disclosed as ranges, not exact dollar figures.